Wear Your Helmet.
Discussion
Any opportunity to bang on about helmets, but I went down the road yesterday crossing a greasy T-junction at about 15mph. 
Apart from the hip/thigh/knee burns, general aches and pains, the hole in my Lusso waterproof and the £200+ damage to my Ultegra levers and dérailleur, I am convinced my helmet is the only reason I am able to write this?
Being clipped in and the speed of the drop, my head whacked the road near my right temple, hard enough to momentarily knock me out and made me feel dizzy/sick most of yesterday.
On the slow grind home, I passed 2 old guys cycling, both without helmets - It really ain't worth it imvho?
Be safe chaps.
Now, the bike can be made to work properly again, but can I live with the road rash to the nice shiny alloy bits - out with the Dremel I think?
Apart from the hip/thigh/knee burns, general aches and pains, the hole in my Lusso waterproof and the £200+ damage to my Ultegra levers and dérailleur, I am convinced my helmet is the only reason I am able to write this?
Being clipped in and the speed of the drop, my head whacked the road near my right temple, hard enough to momentarily knock me out and made me feel dizzy/sick most of yesterday.
On the slow grind home, I passed 2 old guys cycling, both without helmets - It really ain't worth it imvho?
Be safe chaps.
Now, the bike can be made to work properly again, but can I live with the road rash to the nice shiny alloy bits - out with the Dremel I think?
It's quite simple and obvious yes, but we go through this every few weeks: The frothing maniacs will come out and argue for 20 pages that because it doesn't help if you're run over by a truck, or because someone somewhere once managed to show it might exert a little more torque on your neck, that helmets are the work of the devil, and anyone who suggests wearing one should relinquish their entry in the human race. Everyone knows they're ridiculous, most likely including they themselves, (if they even ride bikes) TBH the first few times they're kinda entertaining, but it gets boring pretty fast..
nsm3 said:
Lol, you're right of course and I'm not one of those that says it should be mandatory, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist (or neurosurgeon) to realise how my 9 year old Specialized helmet saved me from a lot of bother yesterday?
We prefer the catch-all 'Rocket Surgeon'.I totally agree, now will follow a lot of bile and misinformation alluding to how they actually kill you in a crash because they're can't offer 100% protect in 100% of crashes - they won't be long.
I also have two damaged helmets, both not visible to the naked eye unless you were looking carefully. These were sawn in half and binned.
I think it is a personal choice, I would mandate it for those <16 or some arbitrary age. I expect kids getting to 16 and having worn one would continue.
More people cycle then play cricket and the kids need to wear it for that sport.
Nothing more sobering then picking yourself up and seeing a large dent in the foam or shear failure between the connection where the vents are!
Of course let people do what they like.
I think it is a personal choice, I would mandate it for those <16 or some arbitrary age. I expect kids getting to 16 and having worn one would continue.
More people cycle then play cricket and the kids need to wear it for that sport.
Nothing more sobering then picking yourself up and seeing a large dent in the foam or shear failure between the connection where the vents are!
Of course let people do what they like.
red997 said:
Can anyone provide evidence to support not wearing a helmet ?
not baiting, just wondering...
There's tons of it out there tbh, if you have a google around. It's a subject that's surprisingly complex (but also rather interesting imo).not baiting, just wondering...
It's worth having a google imo 'cos the info changes remarkably quickly. I see that this year CTC, the cycling charity, have even opposed helmet promotion campaigns http://www.ctc.org.uk/campaigning/views-and-briefi...
i think pretty much every one agrees it should be a matter of choice.
Another piece I hadn't seen before: http://www.bicycling.com/training-nutrition/injury...
A club member I know was sprinting when the forks on his Willier When the forks sheared off and he face planted with the front of his helmet taking a large part of the impact!
The helmet had to be seen to be believed,you woud have thought somebody had taken a chainsaw to it!
There is absolutely no need to wear a helmet until you whack your head!
Back in the day Bell had an advertising campaign for motorbike helmets which has stayed with me for 30 odd years!
"IF YOU HAVE A $10 HEAD HAVE A $10 HELMET!
The helmet had to be seen to be believed,you woud have thought somebody had taken a chainsaw to it!
There is absolutely no need to wear a helmet until you whack your head!
Back in the day Bell had an advertising campaign for motorbike helmets which has stayed with me for 30 odd years!
"IF YOU HAVE A $10 HEAD HAVE A $10 HELMET!
I’m of the opinion that if people don’t want to wear a helmet then that’s their choice, though it does anger me when I see parents let their small kids out without them on.
Personally I won’t ride without one, especially off road. I’ve trashed enough of them to know that if I hadn’t been wearing it I’d have done some pretty serious damage, especially to the back/base of my skull.
Another thing that gets me is people who do wear them but might as well not ie/ (mostly the green commuter brigade) – helmet on backwards, or way too far forward or back, or straps not correctly adjusted etc.
Personally I won’t ride without one, especially off road. I’ve trashed enough of them to know that if I hadn’t been wearing it I’d have done some pretty serious damage, especially to the back/base of my skull.
Another thing that gets me is people who do wear them but might as well not ie/ (mostly the green commuter brigade) – helmet on backwards, or way too far forward or back, or straps not correctly adjusted etc.
heebeegeetee said:
It's worth having a google imo 'cos the info changes remarkably quickly. I see that this year CTC, the cycling charity, have even opposed helmet promotion campaigns http://www.ctc.org.uk/campaigning/views-and-briefi...
i think pretty much every one agrees it should be a matter of choice.
For clarity, the reason CTC oppose helmet promotion is entirely centered around the fact it can discourage people from cycling - it's not a suggestion on whether they deem them good or bad. They remain neutral on the topic. i think pretty much every one agrees it should be a matter of choice.
I agree totally though, it's a matter of choice.
Fourmotion said:
heebeegeetee said:
It's worth having a google imo 'cos the info changes remarkably quickly. I see that this year CTC, the cycling charity, have even opposed helmet promotion campaigns http://www.ctc.org.uk/campaigning/views-and-briefi...
i think pretty much every one agrees it should be a matter of choice.
For clarity, the reason CTC oppose helmet promotion is entirely centered around the fact it can discourage people from cycling - it's not a suggestion on whether they deem them good or bad. They remain neutral on the topic. i think pretty much every one agrees it should be a matter of choice.
I agree totally though, it's a matter of choice.
In some instances helmets reduce serious injuries.
The studies from hospitals in injuries from helmet wearers and non helmet wearers are useless because of the selection bias (they are tracking hospital attendance so it doesn't count the non-attended accidents wearing a helmet or not).
The wearing of helmets appears to have less benefit than the loss of activity when people invariably cycle less or not at all.
(So where helmet wearing has been made mandatory we can track the decrease in both cyclists and mileage in real-world conditions - that decrease in activity causes more issues through inactivity, illness, traffic increase etc than cycling without a helmet would)
So statistically if half the country cycled lots without a helmet and half didn't ride at all, the half who rode everywhere without one would live longer.
To see it you need to separate the personal and anecdotal from the broad statistical view. It might have saved me in my accident so it would save everyone....
(Personally it did, I had a big off on the road hitting ice at 25mph+ and the last impact of my head whiplashing into the tarmac was HARD. I wouldn't want to repeat that with a helmet let alone without one. I wear one for almost all riding, but still don't on a low speed potter on the mile or so to the shops, pub or supermarket.)
I hit a pot hole at 8mph going up a hill. It was like over cooking an endo (excuse spelling) as a child.
16 stone of me landed on my head which took all the impact followed by my shoulder. The helmet cracked in 3 places and I have no doubt it stopped me from having a very messy injury. Over two years on I still have whiplash issues but it would have been a lot worse.
It makes my piss boil when I see people without them, esp riders will all the gear but no f
king idea because they have one of them stupid cloth cap things on. WTF !
16 stone of me landed on my head which took all the impact followed by my shoulder. The helmet cracked in 3 places and I have no doubt it stopped me from having a very messy injury. Over two years on I still have whiplash issues but it would have been a lot worse.
It makes my piss boil when I see people without them, esp riders will all the gear but no f
king idea because they have one of them stupid cloth cap things on. WTF ! Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff